


The Fated Meeting

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Get Together, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26144086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: The year you meet your soulmate, you get the Letter of Meeting. It's not actually super helpful.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 99
Collections: Barisi Soulmate Bingo





	The Fated Meeting

The rule of the Letter is as follows: Sometime within the calendar year of meeting your soulmate, the Letter of Meeting arrives. Sonny's Letter comes in the mail the same day as the letter that tells him how he did on his detective exam. He stares at the return addresses at both envelopes and tries to steady his breathing. He isn't sure which one needs to be opened first. They both mean so much to him. 

After three or four minutes just staring at the envelopes, Sonny puts them behind his back and shuffles them and then pulls his right hand out first. 

Exam results. 

He shakes a little as he tears open the envelope. He stares at the first line (Congratulations, Detective), and doesn't finish reading it. He knows what he needs to know. He rips open the other envelope and holds the folded Letter in his hands for a few seconds before he finally opens it. 

It's well-known that the Letter tends to be sparse on details. Sonny had seen all of his sisters' letters and knew what to expect, but to see the stark bullet points not even taking up a quarter of the page is still shocking. His should be different. His should tell him everything. 

It does not. All Sonny gets is: 

_Conference table  
Two women  
Discussing work  
Yellow suit_

Sonny stares at the Letter like glaring at it will give him more details, but it doesn't.

"Thanks," Sonny mutters in disappointment, but he still folds the Letter carefully and tucks it away in the fireproof box he keeps in his bedroom closet. His exam results letter, he smoothes out and puts on his fridge. He smiles at it every time he sees it for a week. He's done it. He's taken this big step. He's a detective now. 

*

The next few months are...a lot. Looking back later, all Sonny can say for certain is that he was very tired. His first detective posting is a bad fit from the start. It's like everyone in the room at Staten Island SVU expects him to fail. When he flubs a report, his partner rips him a new one in the middle of the squad, and Sonny has to fight not to cry. 

The move to Brooklyn Homicide feels like it'll work until the first time Sonny sees a dead body and understands that he is completely without power to help. Yes, justice should be served. This poor, broken body should be avenged, but this body is no longer a person. There's no soul or hope left to fight for. The family deserves peace, but even a prison sentence can't promise that. Sonny prays and asks for guidance, and when his Lieutenant pulls him in and quietly explains it's best if he moves on, Sonny takes it as a sign and simply nods and packs his desk. 

Queens is the worst. His second day on the job, a fellow detective sees his bi pride flag and tries to joke that bi men are just at a rest stop before becoming full-fledged gays. Sonny doesn't remember his exact response, but he knows he yells. When his Lieutenant informs him he can go home and stay there, Sonny isn't surprised. 

It's two weeks before he has a new assignment. He has the vacation to cover it, so he spends it bored and disappointed around his apartment. He takes down the letter from his fridge and opens his fire proof safe to stick it in there. He stares at the Letter for a long moment before putting his exam results letter on top of it and shutting it with a hard snap. 

*

Manhattan. SVU. He brings zeppole on his first day. He can tell instantly that his Sergeant and the detective she's with (Rollins, he learns) think he's a bad fit. Detective Tutuola (Fin; he goes by Fin) seems to equally not care and find him lacking. 

It's three days in that Rafael Barba walks into the squad, and the moment Sonny sees him, he nearly falls over. He knows the man by reputation thanks to some mentions in his night classes, and he's definitely watched him speak on the news. But in person, it's different. There's a full-on aura around the man that promises he knows very well how good he is and is here to demand the best out of everyone around him. 

Sonny is pleased he makes it through his explanation of the case without stammering or tripping over himself. He is mildly aware of the Sarge and Rollins helping fill in the details, but he can't stop watching Barba until he absolutely has to walk away. There's a tingling up his spine like Barba is watching him walk away, but Sonny doesn't turn to find out. He's reaching; he's sure.

At home that night, he stands in the shower and focuses on relaxing his muscles. He cups his half-hard dick and lets himself think about how fucking handsome Rafael Barba had looked walking into the squad room. The way he'd owned the space the moment he arrived. How he had smoothly walked around the conference table and stared at the board, taking in what Rollins and the Lieu were saying with absolute ease while also not missing a thing Sonny was--

Wait.

Sonny takes a step back so he's not directly under the spray and stares at the showerhead as he slowly walks through everything again. 

Barba walking into the squad to discuss the case.  
Walks around the conference table.   
Rollins and the Sarge are there.   
Barba's suit--

"FUCK," Sonny yells and scrambles to turn off the water. He manages to scald himself for a moment before getting it turned off fully, then rips the shower curtain aside. He stumbles from the bathroom, looking desperately for his phone. The Sarge has to have Barba's number, right? She must. He's their DA.

There's a knock on the door. 

Sonny whips around and stares at the door. He stalks over and looks through the peephole. 

It's Barba. 

He's still in that same suit. 

Sonny's hands shake as he undoes the locks. When he throws open the door, it bounces off the wall from the force of his swing. "Your suit isn't fucking yellow," Sonny says without thinking. "It's got a yellow undertone, but it's not fucking _yellow_."

Barba gives him a slow once over, pointedly staring at Sonny's dick for a moment before bringing his gaze up his stomach and chest and meeting his eyes. "It's blond," he says.

"Fuck you it is," Sonny replies. 

Barba reaches into his--not fucking _yellow_ \--suit jacket and pulls out a folded letter. He opens it and turns it so Sonny can read it. "I have to admit, I was hoping 'facial hair' would mean a beard."

Sonny stares at Barba, then looks at the letter. 

_Squadroom  
Facial hair  
Two women  
Photos_

"I can grow a beard," Sonny says without thinking. 

Barba laughs quietly, and his gaze drops to Sonny's groin again. "You should invite me in before your neighbors see that I'm not looking at a beard."

Sonny looks down and remembers he's very, very naked. Right. He steps to one side and gestures Barba inside. "Give me a second," he says. 

"I've waited forty years," Barba says drily, though the small curve of his mouth makes it clear he's charmed. "Don't rush on my account."

Sonny chuckles and takes a moment to simply stare at the man. His soulmate. A lawyer. An ADA, no less. "Your suit is fucking beige," he says, and Barba's laugh follows him as he walks into the bedroom to find something to wear.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to M for the beta, as usual!
> 
> For soulmates bingo.


End file.
